Allison Woolbert: Difference between revisions

Allison D. Woolbert (formerly Dennis Wayne Woolbert) was a [[transgender ideology|trans activist]] from New Jersey, known for starting a blog called "[[TERF]] Tracker".  He used this platform to complain about, and arguably harass, feminists.  After it was revealed by his fellow trans activists that he had a past conviction for sexually molesting a 15 year-old relative, he disappeared from the Internet.

According to his public Linkedin profile, Woolbert has been working in IT since the early 1980s.<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-woolbert-428629b9 | title = Allison Woolbert, Linkedin }}</ref>

In October 2013, Woolbert started a Kickstarter campaign to create the Transgender Violence Tracking Portal (TVTP).<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1280267427/transgender-murder-violence-and-suicide-website/description | title = Transgender Violence Tracking Portal | website = kickstarter.com | author = Allison Woolbert | date = October 7, 2013 }}</ref>  The fundraiser started with a goal of $3,500 and gained $4,772 in total.  In a November 2013 interview published on Huffpost, Woolbert explains why he believes there to be a need for tracking anti-transgender violence, and how his software development business started providing the technologies needed to start the TVTP.<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://www.huffpost.com/entry/allison-woolbert-on-the-need-for-tracking-of-anti-transgender-violence_b_4233566 | title = Allison Woolbert on the Need for Tracking of Anti-Transgender Violence | author = A.J. Walkley | publisher = HuffPost | date = November 11, 2013 }}</ref>  A follow-up article from October 2014 talks about how the TVTP had been successfully set up at that point.<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transgender-violence-trac_b_5948606 | title = Transgender Violence Tracking Portal: One Year Later | author = A.J. Walkley | date = October 10, 2014 | publisher = HuffPost }}</ref>

 

 

In August 2014, Woolbert started a blog called "TERF Tracker" described as being "about the cause to eliminate transphobic harassment and violence by the pseudo-feminist group called the [[TERF]]s (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists)."<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://terftracker.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-commentary-on-feminist-guide-to-all.html | title = A commentary on “A Feminist Guide to all things Trans” - Part 1 | author = Allison Woolbert | date = August 4, 2014 | website = terftracker.blogspot.com }}</ref>

 

Later in the same month, Woolbert posted on TERF Tracker that he would be focusing on TVTP instead, and designated Melissa Savage as the director/facilitator of the blog.<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://terftracker.blogspot.com/2014/08/allison-woolbert-to-focus-on-tvtp.html | title = Allison Woolbert To Focus on TVTP, Designates Melissa Savage the TERF Tracker Director/Facilitator by Allison Woolbert | author = Allison Woolbert | date = August 29, 2014 | website = terftracker.blogspot.com }}</ref>

 

On January 6, 2015, the Twitter account of the TERF Tracker (@TERFTracker), controlled by Melissa Savage at that point, tweeted at the account @TransHarmTrack:

 

 

It had come out that in 1991, Woolbert had been convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault in the First Degree, his victim apparently being a 15 year-old family member.  Woolbert was 28 years old at the time and would serve the next 4 years in prison.  The revelation was posted about swiftly in various blogs and publications, both by trans-critical feminists and trans activists.

 

 

After another day, the TransAdvocate published a post titled "Community Responsibility" in which they lamented that "an anti-violence organization that [he] led" (presumably, either the TVTP or the THRI) had declined to accept Woolbert's resignation following the revelations.<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://www.transadvocate.com/community-responsibility_n_14832.htm | title = Community Responsibility | date = January 9, 2015 | publisher = TransAdvocate }}</ref>  On the same day, TERF Tracker published a highly detailed post about Woolbert's crime and related issues, meant as a continuation of the statement by the TransAdvocate.<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://terftracker.blogspot.com/2015/01/allison-woolbert-exposed-part-one.html | title = Allison Woolbert Exposed Part One | date = January 9, 2015 | publisher = TERF Tracker }}</ref>  Although the post was titled "Part One," there would be no part two.  To date, it is the last post on TERF Tracker.

 

 

A few days later, the website LGBT Weekly published an independent article about the event, speaking of the importance of vetting leadership for trans activist groups.<ref>{{ cite web | url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180307153253/http://lgbtweekly.com/2015/01/15/allison-woolberts-resignation-an-object-lesson-on-the-value-of-thorough-vetting/ | title = Allison Woolbert’s resignation: An object lesson on the value of thorough vetting | date = January 15, 2015 | author = Autumn Sandeen | publisher = LGBT Weekly }}</ref>